Help me decide - Lathe Choices

[Animus Cycle Fab]

Happy Friday everyone.

I'm in a bit of a trilemma and I'm hoping for some advice.
There are three lathes currently for sale reasonably close to me that I'm considering buying, but I'm having a hard time deciding.

Option A - Le BLOND Rapid Production Lathe 16x24 - Very clean and nice $1500
pro - Closest to me, very rigid, easy to adapt tube holding, small footprint, Nice Cushman 3+4 jaw chucks and some tooling, 1500 rpm max, 72" OAL
con - No threading, no compound, pneumatic ram tailstock for centers (not drilling/reaming), 250 rpm min

Option B - Le BLOND Heavy Duty 18x21 - good condition $800
Pro - Very rigid, easy tube holding, standard tailstock
con - No threading, no compound, further away, heavier than Option A
comes with 3 jaw chuck and minimal tooling. not sure on condition, not sure on spindle speed range, not sure OAL

Option C - Clausing 15x48 - good condition $3250
pro - 2" spindle, compound, threading, 37-1500 rpm, lightest of the 3
con - furthest away, 92" OAL, not as rigid nor easy to mount tube clamp for miter
Comes with a 3 jaw chuck and some tooling

I really like the way size and spacing on both of the Le Blond lathes. Obviously made for heavy work, so to me, seems perfect for coping tubes.
Mostly FB use, but not entirely. I feel like I can live without a compound and threading. (I can't do anything at home now, and if need be, I can thread on the south bend at work)
Is 250rpm too high for mitering with flood cooling?
I'll be running whichever with a VFD to achieve 3 phase, so I can slow the motor down.
Will I affect the torque enough to have issues w/ harder tubing?

I'm leaning towards the Le Blond Rapid Production due to proximity and condition.
Next would be the Le Blond HD, with the Clausing in third due to cost and size.

Thanks in advance

[Dazza]

38mm min spindle bore is my thing
a lathe will be a lot more useful to you then just mitering tubes, such as making many parts and fixtures etc. The list is endless
A lathe is a beautiful thing

[Mark Kelly]

Re the VFD vs torque thing:

An induction motor develops torque by "slipping": the rotational speed of the rotor is lower than that of the stator field, the relative motion induces current in the rotor windings, the current produces the rotor field.

As long as the VFD allows the full current to flow (they generally have a software current limit) the max torque will be the same. The max power will be reduced (power is torque x speed) and the percentage speed loss to achieve max torque will be increased because the torque is proportional to the absolute value of the speed difference.

[afwalker]

+1 on lathe threading, especially metric and imperial.
I'd rather have a precision lathe that does metric and imperial threading than a larger non-threading lathe.
+1 on a 4 jaw chuck, you will rapidly get the hang of it and it does so much more than a 3 jaw, nice to have both of course.
Try for at least a 1 1/2" spindle bore and most fork steerer tubes will fit and you can clean up the fork crowns easily.
add dro later for fun:)

[EricKeller]

I have never fixed the gearbox on my lathe, so no threading for me. And if I did fix it, it only does SAE threads anyway. But no tailstock would be a real problem for me, is there a way to fix that? I agree with Dazza, I like to be able to pass tubes through the headstock. My lathe is only a 13", but it will pass a 1.5" round through the headstock.

[Animus Cycle Fab]

All three have a spindle bore of at least 1.5" (1.5", 2", 2.13")
I'm 99% convinced I can live without a compound, assuming I can thread elsewhere. (Work, buddies shop, etc)
The tailstock issue is giving me second thoughts though.
I won't entirely be unable to drill/ream if I add a toolpost drill chuck/collet body (PITA, but an option nonetheless. I love complex, finicky, single use set-ups!
I'm also checking around if I can acquire an manual tailstock or modify the pneumatic one to retrofit the production lathe.

Thanks for your thoughts